


The Nights Are The Hardest

by vexbatch



Category: Dice Disasters (Podcast)
Genre: Comfort, Gen, Homesickness, I just love these characters a lot, Kid Fic, Lucid Dreaming, Magic, Nightmares, The author really enjoys nightmares apparently, the author doesn't usually write children, they deserve the world
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-03
Updated: 2020-09-03
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:46:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,060
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26273572
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vexbatch/pseuds/vexbatch
Summary: After weeks of living in this new and magical land, Cody has a dream about home and the friend he misses most.
Comments: 5
Kudos: 13





	The Nights Are The Hardest

**Author's Note:**

> *ahem* HI, THERE IS A PODCAST CALLED DICE DISASTERS AND YOU SHOULD PROBABLY LISTEN TO IT, it's really good and has really fun characters and storytelling, ANYWAY  
> Here's a little bit of that world, from just after Episode 27, blending with a little bit of backstory from the subsequent Ask the Disasters episode. I hope you enjoy!

_ Cody leans back, preparing to hurl the rock over at his Mage Hand. They've been hiking for a few hours, the only break in the tedium coming when Erica talked Zan into a break, or the hilarious ten minutes when Max had offered to give Jasmine a  _ very  _ unsuccessful piggyback ride.  _

_ Now, however, they had all lapsed back into silence, and Cody had taken up playing catch with the magical hand he could now conjure. Just as he was letting the rock loose, it shifted, becoming a more perfect sphere, brightening from a full grey to a vibrant white. The sun suddenly seemed too bright as well, and Cody had to squinch his eyes shut against the light.  _

_ As he blinked to dissipate the spots in his vision, he found himself in his neighbor Ellie's backyard, saw her there laughing as she caught the baseball he had just tossed.  _

_ "Okay, Cody! As your baseball instructor, I have to tell you to…" Ellie's grin shifted into a scrunch of concentration, before clearing back into a wide smile. "Widen your stance! Yeah!" _

_ "Huh? Wha-..." Cody trailed off, looking down to see his regular shorts and bright blue sneakers in place of the grey jumpsuit. Raising his arms, he saw the wrist cuffs were gone, and that his big plastic watch was back. "How did I get back here? Is, is everyone else okay?" _

_ Cody spun on the spot, frantically searching for a portal or a rip in space that would show the forest he'd just been hiking through. _

_ "Uh, Cody?" Ellie's voice sounded worried, and Cody wanted to reassure her, but he  _ had  _ to know if the rest of them were okay. Did everyone make it back? Were they just waiting around the corner of Ellie's house?  _

_ "Cody, you're scaring me. Are you okay?" She wandered closer, following as Cody rounded the side of her house, finding the street empty.  _

_ Turning back toward Ellie, panic gripped Cody as he asked "do you know where they are? Jasmine and Max and Erica and Zan? They were  _ right here _ ," and Cody could feel the tears welling up.  _

_ "Cody?"  _

_ But the voice didn't sound like Ellie anymore.  _

_ It almost sounded like … _

"Erica?" Cody croaks out, fighting to open his eyes. He manages it after a minute, looking up to see an image of Erica swimming before him. Blinking a few times, he realizes that he'd been crying, and quickly wipes at his eyes.

Erica is kneeling next to him, a look of concern that mirrored Ellie's. That thought brought another wave of tears prickling, but Cody shoves himself up to a sitting position and does his best to ignore it. 

"Are you doin' okay, Cody? Had a bad dream?" Erica looks a little conflicted, finally settling on putting a hand on his shoulder. 

Cody nods, not really wanting to talk about it. It all comes rushing back to him then, that home has been gone for what feels like months, the fact that Jasmine and Max are trapped in a cell somewhere, that they have a half-baked plan for escape that involves competing in a battle royale. It's too much then, and Cody can't stop himself from curling over his pulled-up knees and sobbing, vaguely aware of Erica's startled noise, and then a warm body pressing into him. 

He grasps for her shirt, hiding his face there as he lets it out, all the pain and stress and uncertainty that has been their lives since they landed in the building run by CASTR. 

Eventually, the cries turn into hiccuping breaths, but still, they sit there in their awkward embrace. 

Erica shifts, clearing her throat before trying to speak again. "Cody, I...I don't know what's going to happen. But, we're gonna be okay. Okay?" 

Cody can feel Erica's eyes on him as he leans into her side, keeping his eyes down and trying not to let the tears overwhelm him again. "Yeah," he whispers. "Okay, Erica."

They stay like that for a while, until Cody's heartbeat has calmed down, until Erica has to move, complaining of pins and needles in one arm. She gets up, then looks back down at Cody. "Hey buddy. You gonna be okay to sleep alone the rest of the night? I can...well, I can try to-"

"No," Cody cuts her off. He can tell Erica is a little uncomfortable to even offer sleeping next to him, and besides. She isn't who he wants comfort from right now anyway. He gives her a wobbly smile. "No, it's okay, Erica. I'll be okay." He gives a little sniffle, trying to sound as normal as possible as he blinks up at her. "Thanks for trying."

She gives him a weak smile, saying "yeah, buddy. Okay." Erica wanders back over to her own couch, and Cody just watches until it looks like she's settled back down to sleep.

He knows that Jasmine is far away, he doesn't even know where exactly, but if Max can talk to him, then maybe Cody can reach Jasmine. 

In the darkness, Cody gently taps his wrist cuffs together, blinking at the pink glow from the screen that appears. He scrolls for a moment, hesitates, then presses the word  _ Message _ , hovering in the air in front of him. 

_ Jasmine _ , he thinks, _ I hope you are okay. Things are scary over here, but we have a plan to come find you. I just...I miss you. And I miss home. I hope we can get back soon. _

The word  _ Message _ fades from in front of Cody as the spell ends, sent off to where he hopes Jasmine is listening. After a few moments with no answer, Cody sighs, then shifts back down to lay on his pile of blankets. He can feel the tears pricking at his eyes again, and when he does eventually close his eyes, he just sees Ellie's face before his. 

Rolling to his side, he quietly calls for Wotter. She scampers over, but when he says "it's sleep time," she nods solemnly and curls up in front of him. 

He spends the next few minutes like that, curled up around his familiar and staring at nothing in particular, wishing he could go home. Slowly, so slowly that it sneaks up on him, Cody's eyes begin to close as he falls into a blissfully dreamless sleep.


End file.
